''Puberty'' () is an 1894–95

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

created by Norwegian artist

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

. ''Puberty'' has associations with both

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

and

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, the former a movement from which Munch emerged, and the latter a movement in which Munch was pivotal. It is part of an informal series or cycle of paintings, prints, and images known as ''The Frieze of Life'', that Munch created in the 1890s, although he often revisited and explored themes and images from the series throughout his career. The painting was also done as a

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

and an

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

by Munch.

Genesis

Whenever he was questioned on the subject, Munch maintained he had not been influenced by the work of the Belgium artist and illustrator

Félicien Rops Félicien Victor Joseph Rops (; 7 July 1833 – 23 August 1898) was a Belgian artist associated with Symbolism (arts), Symbolism, Decadence, and the Parisian , a member of the Les XX group. He was a painter, illustrator, caricaturist and a proli ...

,Prelinger, Elizabeth and Michael Parke-Taylor (1996). ''The Symbolist Prints of Edvard Munch''. Yale University Press, New Haven. 236 pp. specifically the etching ''Le Plus Bel Amour De Don Juan'' 'Don Juan's Greatest Love'' published as an illustration in the second edition of Jules Amédée Barbey d’Aurevilly's book Les Diaboliques in 1882 (based on an earlier 1879 pencil drawing).Bade, Patrick (2003) ''Félicien Rops''. Parkstone Press Ltd, New York, 95 pp. ) However, art critics and historians have consistently noted the similarities; beginning with Przybyszewski (1894) the first publication ever devoted to Munch.Messer, Thomas M. (1970). ''Munch'': The Library of Great Painters. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York. 166 pp. Munch claimed the ca. 1894-95 painting was a copy of an earlier painting he first made in 1885 or 1886 and "that this earlier version had been lost in a studio fire". In the late 1880s and into the mid-1890s, Munch, in his mid-twenties, had begun to create his series of ''Puberty'' pieces. At this time Munch had already established himself as a notable artist in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. During this period of his life Munch often found residence in Berlin, where his newfound fame and circle of friends were. His new group of friends are attributed for helping push Munch further into his sexually depressed state of mind. Munch allowed this sexual depression to seep into ''Puberty'' and like other works he created later this piece was created with

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

ism reflecting feelings which continued growing increasingly within the next ten years. This state of sexual depression is one that not only his circle of friends shared with him, but that the psychological scholars had also been curious about having just written the first research on the stages and occurrences of

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...

in young adults.

Subject matter

Munch's painting ''Puberty'' depicts a young naked girl sitting on the edge of a bed. Her legs are pressed together. She holds her hands in front of her body; one lies between her knees, while the other rests on her right thigh. She stares straight ahead with eyes wide open. Her mouth is closed and her long hair hangs down over the shoulders. The light enters from the left, and behind her a dark, ominous shadow is visible. The motif is often regarded as a symbol of anxiety and fear, a young girl's awakening sexuality and the changes a young person experiences physically and psychologically on the path towards adulthood. Munch gave a number of titles to various versions of the motif, originally ''The Young Model'', later ''Puberty'', and still later ''At Night''. "The image can thus sustain various interpretations, from a view of a model by an artist to an evocation of nocturnal sensual pleasures and terrors."

Others' comments

Arne Eggum Arne Kristian Eggum (born August 24, 1936) is a Norwegian art historian who mainly focused his scientific work on Edvard Munch. From January 1963 until January 1964, Eggum helped prepare the opening othe Munch MuseumHe got his PhD in art history ...

has stated in commentary published by ''The Masterworks of Edvard Munch'' regarding Munch's ''Puberty'' that the images were so similar, Munch found it necessary to claim he did not wish to replicate

' 1886 ''Le Plus Bel Amour De Don Juan''.

Les Diaboliques'' with Félicien Rops">Rops Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. RoPS played in the Finnish Premier Division, (''Veikkausliiga'') for 32 years, from 1981 to 2021. In 2021, RoPS withdrew from professional football ...

etching, was published in 1882, not 1886]. *Munch claimed the painting is a duplicate of one that had been earlier destroyed in a fire in 1885 or 1886, reiterating the confusion of the original idea in which Munch was inspired to create ''Puberty''. *Munch himself (like the female he has portrayed in ''Puberty'') feared sex due to the loss of his virginity to his cousin's wife.

Artistic growth

''Puberty'' was a spark towards the progress of his personal emotional journey in how he portrayed his feelings in his artwork.Deknatel, 1950 p. 15

Notes

References

* Frederick B. Deknatel (1950). ''Edvard Munch''. Chanticleer Press ASIN: B0007DVV12. 171 * Shelley Wood Cordulack, Edvard Munch (2002) ''Edvard Munch and the physiology of symbolism''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. , * Eggum, A., & Munch, E. (1979). ''Edvard Munch: paintings, sketches, and studies''. New York: C.N. Potter.

External links

Edvard Munch
at Munch Museum
''Puberty''
at Humanitiesweb (includes an image of the painting)
Edvard Much, ''Puberty''
a
wikipaintings.orgEdvard Munch as a painter
at Munch Museum

{{Edvard Munch Paintings by Edvard Munch 1894 paintings Nude paintings of children Paintings in the National Gallery (Norway)